Yoga, Walking, Karate Are Royally Effective
See this pin I’m wearing? I said to Princess Elizabeth of the former Yugoslavia. QVC.
See this pin? the princess shot back playfully, pointing to her miniature portrait of King Edward VII. Not QVC.
Not a princess to mess with, even with 3,000 miles between us. A virtual teleconference provided the illusion that we were seated at the same table, even though the princess was in New York City’s Waldorf Astoria and I was at the Beverly Hills Hilton.
The princess, 61, was promoting her perfume “E,” which sells on QVC. (She’ll be on the shopping channel Wednesday, 4 a.m. PDT). She said “E” is very dear to her because it was inspired by a fragrance worn by her grandmother, Her Imperial and Royal Highness, Grand Duchess Helen of Russia.
Elizabeth, a martial arts student, was also inspired--a la noblesse oblige--to personally deliver $25,000 in medical supplies to a hospital in Belgrade last year.
Question: Any other exercise besides karate?
A: Yes, yoga, which I started over a year ago. I work out with a personal trainer. She comes to the house to do the yoga for an hour, sometimes more, three times a week. And I love walking through Central Park as fast as I can for about an hour. That’s pretty much what I do now.
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Elizabeth was born in Belgrade’s White Palace to Princess Olga of Greece and Prince Paul. He was regent for seven years until 1941, when a military coup ousted the royal family. Elizabeth has three grown children, including actress Catherine Oxenberg.
Q: I read that when you were a child, you ate mangoes in the bathtub. True?
A: Yes, that was in South Africa when I was about 8. Otherwise, I made such a mess. I mean, if you have a dinner party full of very stiff guests and you give them mangoes, you become very good friends at the end of the meal. You have to have a bathtub party.
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Elizabeth’s diet, when she isn’t cheating, consists of coffee and fruit for breakfast; salad, creamed spinach and chicken for lunch; pasta, preferably drenched in olive oil, for dinner.
Q: What’s cheating?
A: I love chocolates. There’s nothing else worth snacking on. I try not to indulge too much, but if I’m going to eat it, I have to eat all of it. If it’s there, it can still tempt you, so you might as well finish it.
* Guest Workout runs Mondays in Health.
